1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of energy saving heating apparatus, and in particular, to a heating apparatus having a working or playing surface, at which persons may be seated, and which provides a self-contained warm environment despite much colder ambient temperatures.
2. Prior Art
In the homes of traditional Japanese families, an apparatus has been known for a very long time which is utilized to provide maximum warmth in rooms otherwise chilled by cold weather, by concentrating the warmth at the center of activity within a room, in order that the entire room need not be heated. The apparatus referred to is known as a kotatsu. In traditional form, the kotatsu comprises a heavy board or gridlike support surface, itself supported by legs. A charcoal burning stove is placed under the table or suspended under the support surface, and a very large blanket is draped over the table completely covering the table and the open sides thereof. An additional surface member is placed over the blanket to provide a hard and durable surface for activities such as playing card games, writing and the like.
Persons wishing to take advantage of the kotatsu take a seat at the table-like structure, draping the blanket over their laps. Even when room temperatures are in the range of 50.degree.-55.degree. F., the warmth radiated to the lower portion of the body enveloped by the blanket is sufficient to keep the entire body comfortably warm. Further, it is believed that the cool air to which the head is subjected, and which is breathed, provides for greater alertness and clearer mental processes. The traditional kotatsu has several difficulties, including the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning and fire. Despite these and other significant hazards, the kotatsu has remained popular in the form described for hundreds of years, and remains so to this day.
In modern times, attempts have been made to embody the traditional kotatsu in new and different ways to take advantage of improvements in technology. Electrically powered heaters have been used in place of traditional charcoal heaters, sometimes traditionally mounted under the kotatsu table and sometimes mounted in the supporting legs or in a pedestal supporting the table. Heated chairs have also been designed to complement the usual table.
In both the East and the West, apparatus for warming foods and the like have comprised tables having heaters adapted to maintain the temperature of a table top upon which food is placed. Of course, such apparatus is not effective to warm persons sitting around the table. Apart from Japanese custom, it has been suggested to incorporate an electric heater into the open area beneath a typical table as well as a combination fan and heater under a typical office desk. There is no provision in such devices for retaining any of the heat, and accordingly, the apparatus must run substantially continuously and inefficiently. Also known in the art are various forms of sleeping bags, sacks or the like, which are provided with powered heating elements. Such apparatus as are known in the art are not directed to providing substantially enclosed warm environments for as many as four persons or more, wherein only a portion of each person's body is disposed within the apparatus, and whereby normal social activities can be comfortably carried out without a great deal of obstruction.
The present invention goes beyond the traditional kotatsu as modified by the addition of electric heat. Care has been taken to provide an apparatus that is peculiarly adapted for Western lifestyles, yet secures the benefit of the traditional device. The present kotatsu is convenient, efficient and safe, providing a warm environment within a cold environment, the device comprising a table, having a surface member, heating means disposed beneath the surface member, an insulating layer disposed between the surface member and the heating means, and a skirt member detachably secured along the periphery of the surface member and depending therefrom, defining the warm environment, whereby persons sitting at the table are partially enveloped by the skirt and thereby kept comfortably warm despite substantially cooler temperatures in the cold environment.